


When You Open Your Eyes

by enigmaticblue



Category: Bones (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-27
Updated: 2010-09-27
Packaged: 2017-10-12 06:08:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/121668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enigmaticblue/pseuds/enigmaticblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She willed her face to replace the darkness that haunted him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When You Open Your Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the hc_bingo prompt: kidnapping.

Angela had promised Jack that when he opened his eyes, he would see her and not the interior of a car, surrounded by dirt—the elements of his worst nightmare—and she meant to keep that promise. Angela hated leaving his side, even for a moment, but she was thirsty, and she knew Jack was still slightly dehydrated from his ordeal.

 

Padding quickly on bare feet, Angela retrieved two glass of water and slipped back into bed. All they had done was sleep; Jack had needed it, and Angela had done her best to soothe his fears.

 

As she settled back into bed next to him, Jack’s breathing hitched, and he shifted in his sleep, a frown creasing his brow.

 

“Hey,” Angela murmured, caressing his cheek. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m right here.”

 

Jack whimpered, and then seemed to relax, turning towards her with a wordless murmur.

 

Angela smiled. She had to admit that being able to chase the nightmares away did wonders for a girl’s ego.

 

She sipped from her glass of water and curled around Jack. He slid an arm over her waist and pulled her closer. Angela went willingly, running her fingers through his curls with a free hand as she drifted off to sleep.

 

When she woke again, Jack thrashed around in the throes of a nightmare, his breathing ragged.

 

Angela reached for him, unthinking, gripping his shoulder and shaking him awake. “Jack, it’s okay. Jack.”

 

He woke with a start, sitting straight up in bed and looking around wildly. “What—”

 

“Jack.” Angela seized his face in her hands, forcing him to meet her eyes. “You’re safe. We’re in my bed, and you’re safe. No one is going to hurt you.”

 

“Ange.” He blinked rapidly. “We’re not—oh. I thought—”

 

“You’re having nightmares,” she said. “It’s normal after what happened.”

 

Angela still had a hard time saying the words—he’d been kidnapped and buried alive, trapped with Brennan, and facing certain death.

 

His hands curled around the comforter. She could see the sweat beading his forehead, and Angela scrambled to her knees, pulling him into her arms. “Deep breaths, Jack,” she murmured. “Just keep breathing.”

 

“That’s the problem,” he murmured brokenly. “I can’t. In my dream, we’re out of oxygen, and I’m running out of air.”

 

“Okay,” Angela said. “It’s okay. I want you to take a deep breath.”

 

When she heard him breathe, Angela asked, “What do you smell?”

 

“You. Just you.”

 

“That’s right,” Angela said, clutching him a little tighter. “You’re in my bed, and you’re safe. No one can get to you here.”

 

Jack took another deep, shuddering breath. “Yeah. Yeah.”

 

“Come on,” Angela said. “You’re all sweaty, and not in the good way.”

 

Jack managed a chuckle at that. “No, definitely not in the good way.”

 

“Don’t take this the wrong way, Jack, but you need a bath.”

 

He huffed out a laugh. “Are you going to join me?”

 

“I was planning on it. I think you could use the distraction. I took this apartment because of the size of the tub.” She helped him out of bed, watching as he swung himself out of the bedroom and into her bathroom. Angela had come prepared—she had plastic all ready to wrap around the cast on his leg, and she helped him lie down in the tub with the cast resting on the ledge.

 

From there, Angela carefully lowered herself into the hot water between Jack’s legs, so that her back rested against his chest. “This is nice.”

 

“This is nice,” he murmured his agreement. “Thank you.”

 

“I think we can safely say that it’s my pleasure.” Angela tilted her head back to get a better look at his face. “You okay?”

 

Jack grimaced. “I think I will be.” He hesitated and then asked, “Why did you change your mind? About us?”

 

Angela wasn’t sure she knew why. She didn’t like looking too far into the future; she preferred to focus on the present. She had turned Jack down because she hadn’t wanted to lose what they already had, but when the prospect of losing him permanently had loomed large, she’d known that her regret over not trying would be greater.

 

“I didn’t want to lose the chance at having you,” she finally said.

 

Jack’s arms tightened around her. “Thank you.”

 

Angela tightened her hands around his. “Always.”

 

She meant it.


End file.
